Sarko at Bay

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For a former French president to spend a day in custody is a humiliation. For a former French president who hopes one day to be president again, it could be much worse than that.

The detention of Nicolas Sarkozy for questioning by police at their anti-corruption headquarters in Nanterre is unprecedented. Moreover, it foreshadows a power struggle that could have a direct impact on French politics three years hence, and thus on Britain’s hopes of muscular support for any renegotiation of its relationship with Europe.

Mr Sarkozy is not the first former French head of state to be assailed by